Bowling ball return and storage rack



y 1960 4 Y J. M. ERNST 2,937,024

BOWLING BALL RETURN AND STORAGEYRACK Filed Jan. 6, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N I I INVENTOR x 1 m LT- JOHN M ERNST 0 BY g Mow ATTORNEY May 17, 1960 J. M. ERNST BOWLING BALL RETURN AND STORAGE RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 6, 1956 FIG.7

FIG. 6

INVENTOR JOHN M. ERNST Z, 7%; t; 44 .4. 68 ATfZmNEY FIGS United States Patent 2,937,024 BOWLING BALL RETURN AND STORAGE RACK John M. Ernst, Shelby, Ohio, assignor to ;Amerlcan Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 6, 1956,'S erial No. 557,732

Claims. (Cl. 273-49) for the length ofthe alley. In bowling alley installations of the type'usually constructed prior to the present invention, such storage racks h'ave ordinarily been designed in such fashion that the rack extended generally-in the direction of the alley, the rack being positioned between two adjacent alleys. nized the desirability of constructing a bowling ball rack in such fashion that the portion of the rack supporting the balls would extend transversely of the alley in such manner that one desiring to take a ball from the storage rackwould only have to approach the transversely disposed rack from an area behind the players and would never have to encroach upon the playing area. While such transversely extending bowling ball storage racks have heretofore been proposed, they have never been reference is had to the accompanying drawings; 1 which form a part of this specification, and wherein: f

' Fig. l is a side elevational view, partlyin section, illus; trating a bowling alley provided with a' ball storage rack constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of two adjacent bowling alleys constructed in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1 and both served by a single ball storage rack in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 being on a smaller scale'than Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is aplan view, on a larger scale than'Fig'. l, illustrating the bowling ball storage rack of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 3,

with some parts shown in elevation; I

Fig-5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5, Fig. 3,

with some parts shown in elevation;

Prior art workershave long recog- Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6, Fig. 3, with some parts shown in elevation;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77, Fig.3, with some parts shown in elevation, and

' Fig. 8 is a view taken on line "8, with parts shown in elevation. i t a Referring to the drawings, Figs. land 2 disclose 'a' preferred embodiment of the invention installed in connectionwith a bowling ball return of the type'described and' claimed in my divisional application Serial No.

' 700,064 filed December 2, 1957. The bowling .ball re.-

completely satisfactory for commercial use and accord I ingly were not adopted in the trade prior to the present invention. r

' An object of the present invention is to provide a novel bowling ball storage rack, wherein all. of the balls to be stored in the rack are supplied thereto via a single infeed means, to be disposed between two adjacent alleys, the balls discharged from such .input means being diverted laterally therefrom onto one or another of a plurality of storage arms or tracks extending laterally of the input means and therefore generally transversely of thefalleys.

Another object ,is to devise sucha ball storage rack comprising novel and particularly etfective means' for diverting the balls from the single infeed means to the stor age arms.

A further object is to provide a novel bowlingball storage rack including a single infeed track to be disposed between two adjacent alleys, a pair of laterally extending storage tracks, and means for diverting the balls from the infeed track to the storage track, the storage tracks and the infeed track being arranged generally in the form of a T, so'that when the rack is installed, each of the storage tracks will project transversely behind the approach or players portion of adiflierent one of the two alleys between which the infeed track is disposed.

Yet another object is to devise such a storage rack wherein the diverter means is of very simple construction 'involving no moving parts, yet will be efiective to provide a positive, dependable diverting action, assuring that all balls supplied to the rack come to' rest in one or another of the laterally projecting storage tracks.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists of certain combinations and constructions which will be hereinafter fully described'and defined in the claims hereunto appended. In order that the manner in which these objects of the turnillustrated comprises a down sweep section designated generally 'at 20, a substantially horizontal track or ball runway indicated generally at 22, and an up sweep section designated generally 24, the return being arranged to deliver balls to a ball storage rack26. As fully described in the aforementioned divisionalapplioation, balls are supplied to the downsweep return runway section 20 by a ball lifting apparatus indicated generally at 25. The balls roll down section 20, along the horizontal section;22, which isdisposed beneath the alley floor, and up section 24; z I I The upper end of up sweep section 24 (Fig. l) is con-. nected to ball storage rack 26 by a crest member 46. This member comprises two suitably curved parallel spaced ball supporting guide rails, which in the illustrated embodiment, are formed of rods 48. These rodspreferably are covered with a resilient material such as'rubber, which provides frictional contact for balls, and also func-j tions to deaden the sound of balls rolling off up sweep section 58 which connects the'crcst member 46, with the stemof T storage rack 26. I V p k Track section 58 preferably is slightly downwardly inclined from the point of its jointure with'crest' member 46 to the point of its attachment to T storage rack 26* and is attached to a suitable bridge bracket 60 secured at its ends to upright supporting plates 54. Track section 58 is :also supported by another bracket 62 attached to the leading end of substantially horizontal. track 64.- Track 64, which constitutes the ball receiving stem or trackv of T-shaped storage rack 26, is supported by and mounted between upright plates 54 which also serve as a housing or frame for T storage rack 26. 1 Despite. the fact that a' ball travels well over sixt feet from thetime it is delivered or-placed on ball delivery track 34 until it rolls along up sweep 24 and onto crest member 46, it still has considerable energy and therefore in most instances it is desirable to providemeans for retarding or checking its movement before it rolls along track- 64 so that it may come to an'ultimat e position of rest on one of the arms 75 or 77 of the head a of the T designated '66. For this reason, a suitable ball check 63 is provided. Ball check 63 has a ball engaging arm 65 which extends upwardly through an opening in track member '53 in position to be engaged by a rolling ball, the speed of which .is retarded thereby as desired for further slow rolling movement to its storage position on track 66. Ball check 63 may be similar in construction and operation to that disclosed in Zuercher application, Serial No. 549,832, filed November 29, 1955, now Patent Number 2,857,162, issued October 21, 1958. Since the details of the ball check do not form a specific part of the present invention, further description and disclosure thereof are omitted in the interest of brevity.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, track 64 is positioned at right angles with the center section oftrack 66 which forms the head of the T of my novel ball storage rack. Track 66 .in its center position is secured to and supported by an upright column 68 and on its end portions by suitably shaped end supports or columns 70 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5). Track 64 is formed with a ball trough 72, the edges of which are parallel and form continuations of the ribs 57 of member58, along which a ball rolls towards the head of T storage rack or' track 66. Track 66 is provided with a pair of tapered troughs .74 extend ing in opposite directions from the center of the track tothe-ends'thereof; The side edges of trough 74*taper or diverge from the center portion of track-66 towards the ends thereof towards'rubber buffers '80. See Figs.

2 and 3.. This arrangement is provided for the purpose of further slowing down the movement of a ball or absorbing' its momentum as it moves to a position of rest onthe head of the T storage rack.

Track 64 -or the stem of the T storage rack may be formed integrally with track 66 or the head of the T storage rack. "In the illustrated embodiment, these members are shown made up of separate units suitably attached to each other with the stem 64 located at right angles to and centrally of the head track 66. At the point of their interconnection, ball controlling members 76 and 78 are provided. In the form illustrated, these members are molded rubber inserts or sections which not only deaden the noise of balls moving on or striking these members, but also prevent damage to balls and absorbshocks of impact of balls striking them. One of these is a generally T-shaped member 76 serving as a connector and switch plate since it is fitted into both tracks 64 and 66 where it can direct an incoming ball from tracks 64 into one or the other of the two tapered balltroughs 74 in arms 75 and 77 of track 66. Switch plate 76 is located .in the center portion of track 66 beis no ball in either trough'74 at a point immediately adjacnt switch member 76, the ball will usually strike the narrow nose of bumper and deflector 78 slightly off center, and will therefore roll down one or the other of tapered surfaces 79, 81 into the corresponding one of the troughs 74. 7 Even should the ball happen to be perfectly centered with bumper and deflector 78 when it strikes the same, the ball will still roll down one or the other of tapered surfaces 79, 81, since, as will be clear from -Fig. 3, these tapered surfaces are spaced so closely together that the ball will not balance therebetween.

The distance between the center of switch plate 76 and each bumper 80 is made such that troughs 74 will be completely filled by a predetermined 'number of balls and, when the last ball of that predetermined number comes to rest in one of the troughs 74, such last ball will occupy a space closely adjacent the switch plate. Then, when the next ball arrives on track 64, it will be cammed off and deflected into the opposite trough, either by contact with the adjacent ball in the full trough 74, or by contact with such adjacent ball and the bumper and deflector 78, assuming of course that the opposite trough ;is not occupied by its full complement of balls;

.ilhus, .if arm 75 of track 66 contains its limit of, say, four balls, while arm 77 contains less than four balls, the ball in .arm 75 nearest switch member 76 will be positioned to be lightly engaged by 'the' next ball rolling along track 64, and the rolling ball will accordingly be deflected down tapered and slanting surface 79 into the trough 74 0f arm '77. Similarly, if arm 77 is full when arm 75 contains less than its full complement of balls,- the ball in arm 77 nearest switch member 76 is in po sition to deflect the next ball into the trough 74 of arm 75.

Molded rubber members 76, 78 and 80 are provided with a number of rubber plugs or projections 82 which engage tightly with suitable holes or indentations in track 66 for holding them in operating position. This mounting, however, permits easy replacement when and if necessary. In order to provide additional rigidity to bumper 78, the latter is backed up by a suitable post84 secured to vertical supporting column 68.

The novel under alley or subway ball return and ball storage rack, as illustrated Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, is shown in use with two adjacent bowling alleys A and A. It is designed-to serve both alleys so that balls B removed from either pit P or P on alley A or v A, respectively, may be returned to a bowler in minitween troughs 74 of track 64 and serves as an entrance guide therefon As shown in Figs. 3, 6,7 and 8, memher, 76 works .in conjunction with a molded rubber wedge of track 66. Member 78 serves as a bumper and deflector for balls rolling off trough .64 into track 66. The free end of each trough 740i track 66 is provided with aisuitably shaped end bumper 86, preferably of molded rnbbeig'which prevents balls from rolling off the :ends of troughs 74.

The stem portion of T-shaped switch member 76 is axially aligned with trough 72 of track 64 at the end thereof, so that a ball rolling along track 64 passes onto the" stem portion of member 76. The cross bar of the T-ofmemberfii is aligned with troughs 74 of arms 75, 77 oftrack 66 and includes two surfaces 7) and- 81 slanting downwardly each into a :difierent one of the troughs 74,.asbestseeninFigs. 3 and 6. The portion of mem-' ber 76 between surfaces 79- and 81 is of course small as compared to the .size of a bowling ball and is centered-with respect 'to'the nose of bumper and deflector 78.

When 1a ballrolls from track 64 onto switch member 7 6, ;at a. time when troughs '74 are empty or when there shaped member v.78 alsollocated in the center portion a mum time. As mentioned hereinabove, a suitable elevating ball mechanism 25, such as disclosedin Holloway et.al., Serial No. 170,162, now Patent No. 2,776,138, may be used to elevate balls delivered out ofeither pit P or P vonto common ball delivery track 34. This track, as well as the ball elevatingdevice 25, as shown, are located in the space between two adjacent kickbacks K with two vertical plates 86 attached thereto to support the various components. Each kickback K is provided with a suitable opening H through which a ball may be ejected or roll from its respective pit into the range of operation of belt 27 of ball lifting device 25.-

The use of an automatic ball lifting device, such as device 25, with the under alley ball return and the ball 1 storage rack which constitute the invention, insures that every ball delivered onto rails 34 will have the same speed'fso that :there islittle or no danger of a ball coming .to rest between the down sweep and up sweep section of the track, 'orof not having sufficient energy to roll up sweep 24;

What I claim is: V

1.v In a storage rack for bowling balls, the combination of an infeed track constructed to be mounted in a position to receive bowling balls from the return runway of a bowling alley and along which such balls can roll to a delivery end; storage track means extending generally transversely of said infeed track adjacent the delivery end thereof, said storage track means including two ball storage portions each extending outwardly from a different side of said infeed track, said infeed track and storage track means being dimensioned to operatively accommodate bowling balls; and fixed ball diverter means, other than such bowling balls, positioned in the path of travel of balls from the delivery end of said infeed track, said ball diverter means including a plurality of ball-directing surfaces disposed to be directly contacted by bowling balls travelling from the delivery end of said infeed track, at least one of said surfaces being directed toward each of said ball storage portions, said ball-distorage tracks having dimensions for operatively accomdelivery station and below said infeed track, said ball diverter means comprising two opposed downwardly slanting surfaces eachleading. toward a different one of said ball storage tracks and the length of each such slanting.

surface being short as compared to the length'of the i one of said ball storage tracks to which it leads, said verter means being effectiveto direct the bowling balls from said infeed track, including the first ball delivered by said infeed track, at random to one or the'other of said storage portions until said storage track means has been filled with balls, said ball-directing surfaces 'ea'ch substantially maintaining its normal stationary position throughout the ball diverting operation of said ball-diverter means. a

2. A bowling ball storage rack in accordance with claim 1 and wherein said ball-diverter means comprises a stop spaced from the delivery end of said infeed track in the direction of travel of balls delivered therefrom, anddiverter track means disposed between said stop and the delivery end of said infeed track, said diverter track means including opposed downwardlyslanting surfaces each leading toward a difir'erent one of said storage portions, the combination of said slanting surfaces being short as compared to the length of said storage track means.

3. A bowling ball storagerack in accordance with claim 2 and wherein said diverter track means comprises a resilient generally horizontally disposed plate having a central portion, aligned with the longitudinal axis of said infeed track and a pair of opposed surfaces extending outwardly and downwardly from said central portion, each of said'i'opposed surfaces leading toward a different one of said ballstorage portions.

4. In a bowling alley installation having a return runway, the combination of a bowling ball storage rack comprising a single infeed track disposed to receive bowling balls from the return runway and along which such balls can roll to a ball delivery station; ball diverter means; means fixedly mounting said ball diverter means at said ball delivery station in alignment with said infeed track; and two ball storage tracks each disposed on a different side of said ball diverter means 'and extending laterally with respect to said infeed track, said infeed and ball ball diverter means also including a stop spaced across said downwardly slanting surfaces from said infeed track, said slanting surfaces and said stop being fixedly mounted and disposed to be directly contacted by bowling balls delivered to said delivery station by said infeed track and being effective to direct the, bowling, balls from said infeed track, including the first ball delivered thereby, at random to one or the other of said ball storagetracks until both of said storage tracks are filled with balls,

said slanting surfaces and said stop each substantially maintaining its normal stationary position throughout the ball diverting operation of said ball diverter means.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 and wherein said ball storage tracks are substantially equal in length,

the distance from the center line of said infeed track to the end of each of said ball'storage tracks being approximately equal to ND+X, where N=the number of balls that can be stored on one of said storage tracks D=the diameter of the bowling balls to be accommodated, and

X =a distance less than the radius of such bowling balls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 456,375 Bruns July 21, 1891 689,342 Wolf Dec.l7, 1901 695,624 Reisky Mar. 18, 1902 722,340 Wiggins Mar. 10, 1903 2,145,220 Cupstid Ian. 24, 1939 7 2,175,750 Edwards Oct. 10, 1939 2,545,252 Barry Mar. 13, 1951 2,682,407 Huck June 29, 1954 2,699,944- 7 Keesling Ian. 18, 1955 2,717,155! Huck Sept. 6, 1955 2,788,972 Turner Apr. 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 325,441

Great Britain 'Feb. 20, 1930 

